Meta Platforms has reached an agreement to purchase Manus, a Singapore-based artificial intelligence (AI) firm that produces an AI agent and offers it to small and medium-sized enterprises.
Meta Expands AI Investments with Manus Acquisition
The transaction is a part of Meta’s larger effort to develop a business around its enormous AI investment, which has drawn CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s attention and emerged as the company’s top goal.
Meta may get a quicker return on part of its AI investment since Manus, which had an annual revenue run rate of US$125 million earlier this year, sells its agent via a subscription service. There were no disclosed financial terms.
Background of Manus
Founded in China before relocating to Singapore, the parent company of Manus also obtained funds earlier this year from a group of investors, including the venture capital firm Benchmark, at a value of over US$500 million.
Earlier this year, Manus unveiled an AI agent that could do a few common activities in response to simple commands, such as screening resumes, making travel plans, and analyzing stocks.
Meta’s AI Strategy and Investment
As the social media firm attempts to develop a business around its significant AI investment, Meta Platforms Inc. has agreed to buy Singapore-based startup Manus, adding a well-known AI agent.
Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, has made artificial intelligence his company’s primary goal and is investing billions to establish data centers, recruit experts, and create new models. Meta may get a quicker return on part of its AI investment from Manus, which sold an AI agent to companies via a subscription service and had an annual revenue run rate of $125 million earlier this year. There was no disclosure of financial details.
Capabilities of Manus AI Agent
Earlier this year, Manus unveiled its product, a so-called AI agent that can do a few common activities in response to simple instructions, such as reviewing resumes, making travel plans, and evaluating stocks. Founded in China before relocating to Singapore, Butterfly Effect, the parent company of Manus, secured funds earlier this year at a value of over $500 million in an investment round headed by US venture capital firm Benchmark.
Meta is investing heavily to engage in the AI battle against competitors like Microsoft Corp., OpenAI, and Alphabet Inc.’s Google. Over the next three years, Zuckerberg has promised to invest $600 billion in US infrastructure projects, many of which are anticipated to be AI-related. Investors are skeptical that Meta’s expenditures will not yield significant profits anytime soon, despite the business hiring a costly team of academics to create a new cutting-edge AI model that it intends to launch next spring.
Enterprise AI Agents
AI agents are devices that can carry out certain digital activities without human oversight. Instead of generating AI capabilities like chatbots, which need human cues, enterprise software firms like Salesforce Inc. and ServiceNow Inc. have actively marketed their versions of agents as the best way for enterprises to leverage the new technology.
Meta said in a statement on Monday that it would keep running and selling Manus’ service and incorporate the startup’s agents into its commercial and consumer offerings. In addition to its AI glasses, Meta already has an AI chatbot called Meta AI that can be accessed via the company’s messaging and social media channels, including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
Manus Team Integration
Although the firms did not specify the new team’s position within the company, Meta is purchasing the technology and leadership group from Manus. As part of a prominent investment in his firm, Scale AI, the company’s Chief AI Officer, Alexandr Wang, joined Meta this summer.
Wang welcomed the Manus team to Meta in a post on X after the news, while Xiao Hong, the CEO and co-founder of Manus, said in his own post that the agreement will enable his firm to increase the reach of its agents. He added, “The age of AI that does not only speak, but acts, produces, and delivers, is just starting.” “And now we have the opportunity to construct it on a scale we never would have thought possible.”
Political and Investment Controversy
Earlier this year, politicians and other venture capitalists chastised VC firm Benchmark for supporting a Chinese-affiliated AI business. “Who believes it is a good idea for American capitalists to support our greatest enemy in artificial intelligence, only to have the CCP utilize that technology to attack us militarily and economically? Not me,” Texas Republican US Senator John Cornyn said in a May post on X. When asked about the Meta acquisition on Monday, Benchmark did not immediately reply.
